Air-cushioned toys are popular with children because they glide easily along a flat surface with little effort on the child's part. An air-cushioned toy does not rest on a surface; rather it hovers on an air-cushion between the surface and the bottom of the toy. The surface can be a solid flat surface, such as a tabletop, or a liquid surface, such as water.
Most air-cushioned toys have a fan mounted within the body of the toy. An electric or battery-powered motor drives the fan. The fan draws air into an opening at the top of the toy and ejects air from an opening in the bottom of the toy. Ejecting the air forms an air cushion between the bottom of the toy and the surface. Such a mechanism appears in U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,670 (Lemelson), U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,882 (Scott) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,410 (Bross).
A number of air-cushioned toys also have a skirt around their periphery which assists in forming an air chamber beneath the toy.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,835 (Suto), the toy has a body with a top and a bottom. There are perforations in the top and the bottom of the body. A skirt attaches to the periphery of the bottom of the body. The skirt is made of plastic of a material which reduces frictional resistance with the ground. The skirt is expandable and contractible as a bag and can be perforated with holes.
In Suto's invention, the fan and its motor are located within the body of the toy, not within the skirt. The primary use of the skirt is to buoy the toy in water, to create an air-cushion chamber beneath the toy and to distance the fan and its motor within the toy from the water. In one embodiment, the frictional resistance between the skirt and the water is reduced by air passing from the perforations in the bottom of the body, into a chamber beneath the toy and then through a narrow gap between the bottom of the skirt and the surface (see page 7, lines 10-15 of this patent). In another embodiment, the frictional resistance is reduced by air passing through perforations in the skin onto the surface. Another air-cushioned toy which uses a skirt is the toy described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,334 (Goldfarb et al.). This patent describes a toy hovercraft and its launcher. The hovercraft's frame has an outwardly flaring skirt with a peripheral lip to assist in forming an air chamber beneath the toy. The motor is located centrally within the toy and rotates a fan which draws in air through inlets in the toy and expels the air from the bottom of the toy creating a pressurized air cushion in a chamber beneath the toy.
All of the air-cushioned toys described in the previously cited U.S. patents and the toys currently on the market locate the fan and motor within the toy. However, it is not always practical, safe or visually pleasing to have the fan and its motor located within the toy.
The air-cushion mechanisms on the market are not efficient in supporting toys. These mechanisms are all located within the toy away from the surface on which the toy is to ride. It is inefficient to locate the mechanism for the air-cushion within the toy and distant from the surface. It is better to locate the mechanism close to the air cushion, namely, beneath the toy adjacent to the surface over which the toy glides.
Thus, a need exists for an air-cushion mechanism which is located beneath the toy, but which can still intake and expel sufficient air to form an air cushion.